Cowboys Travel To Florida For Stetson Invitational

Oklahoma State (5-2) vs.
South Florida (5-2) Â• Stetson (4-2) Â• Virginia Tech (0-0)
News-Journal First Pitch Invitational
February 27-29
Melching Field at Conrad Park (2,500) Â• DeLand, Fla.

The Matchups:
vs. South Florida (5-2) Friday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.
vs. Stetson (4-2) Saturday, Feb. 28 at 6 p.m.
vs. Virginia Tech (0-0) Sunday, Feb. 29 at 11 a.m.

All-Time Results:
South Florida leads 4-1, including a 4-3 win on Feb.7, 2003.
Oklahoma State leads Stetson 3-1, including 9-0 win on Feb. 8, 2003.
OSU and Virginia Tech meet for the first time ever on the diamond.

Polls:
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 35 by the NCBWA.
Stetson is ranked No. 29 by the NCBWA.

The Coaches:
OSU's Frank Anderson is 5-2 in his first season as head coach.
USF's Eddie Cardieri is 649-456 in 19 seasons in Tampa.
Stetson's Pete Dunn is 897-531-3 in 25 seasons in DeLand.
Virginia Tech's Chuck Hartman is 889-503-8 in his 26th year in Blacksburg.

Radio:
KSPI 93.7 FM
Rex Holt (Play-by-Play) is in his 22nd season.

What's On Tap
Oklahoma State travels to the Sunshine State to compete in the News-Journal Firstpitch Invitational for the second straight year. The Cowboys will face South Florida, host Stetson and Virginia Tech in three game tourney in DeLand. The following is the tournament schedule in central time.

Friday, Feb. 27
Oklahoma State vs. South Florida -- 1 p.m.
Virginia Tech vs. Stetson -- 6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28
South Florida vs. Virginia Tech -- 1 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. Stetson -- 6 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 29
Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech -- 11 a.m.
South Florida vs. Stetson -- 3 p.m.

About South Florida
South Florida is 5-2 on the year after splitting a pair of games against Jacksonville over the weekend. The Bulls return nine starters from last year's club which finished 31-27 and in sixth place in Conference USA. Sophomore first baseman Matt McHargue leads the team with a .389 batting average to go along with three homers and nine RBIs. Junior righthander Kyle Schmidt is slated to take the hill against Oklahoma State on Friday. He is 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in two appearances with 13
strikeouts in 10 innings this season.

About Stetson
Stetson is 4-2 on the year after taking two of three from St. Joseph's over the weekend. The Hatters return eight starters from last year's NCAA tournament team which finished with a 41-24 record and second place finish in the Atlantic Sun. Chris Westervelt is leading the way for the Stetson offense with a .522 average to go with three homers and six RBIs in six games. As a team, the Hatters are hitting at a .353 clip. Cy McCuen is the ace of the staff with a 2-0 record and 1.64 ERA. He has 13 strikeouts in 11 innings on a staff with a 4.42 ERA.

About Virginia Tech
This is opening weekend for Virginia Tech which went 34-23 and finished in fourth place in the Big East a year ago. The Hokies return five starters off of last year's club, including third baseman Chris Stanton and catcher Wyatt Toregas, who both earned first team All-Big East honors. Stanton batted .392 and led the team with 23 bases stolen bases. Toregas led the team in runs batted in with 60 and hit .319 for the year.

Freshmen Contributions
If early season showings continue throughout the 2004 season, then Oklahoma State has two freshmen that will be major contributors for years to come. It should be no surprise that Ty Wright and Keanon Simon are No. 2 and No. 3 on the club in batting average, because they led OSU in the fall in the category. Wright, went 5-for-14 in the three games in Fort Worth and is currently batting at a .400 clip. Simon, moved up to the No. 2 spot in the lineup and went 7-for-15 with two doubles and a triple last weekend, and is now batting .357 overall. With both freshman continuing to gain more and more experience, the Cowboys now have two players to add to the already solid offensive club.

Cowboy Notes
OSU will play six of its next seven games on the road ... Josh Fields is tied for third in the conference with a .423 batting average ... Spencer Grogan is seventh in the conference with a 0.68 ERA ... Daniel Rew's 0.79 ERA is good for seventh ... Freshman Ty Wright is 14th in the league with a .400 batting average ... Scott Kirby carries an eight game hit streak into
today's game with TCU ... Jason Jaramillo had a nine-game hit streak snapped against Furman (2/20) ... After allowing 14 runs in the first game of the Southwest Diamond Classic, the pitching staff combined to allow just one run over the last 18 innings ... Brett McDonald recorded his first career save against Dallas Baptist (2/21) and then saved his second game in
a row against TCU (2/24) ... Daniel Rew threw a career-best 7.2 innings in the win over DBU as well.

Broadcast Info
Every Oklahoma State game will be broadcast this season on the KSPI network of stations. Rex Holt, host of the extremely popular “The Game” talk radio show, will once again call all of the action for the Cowboys. Both Thursday's and Friday's games can be heard on 93.7 FM, with Saturday's game switching over to the 780 AM due to basketball coverage. This season, fans can also catch the audio action for free on the internet through www.okstate.com. All of the Cowboy home games and select road games will also have a live video feed through the Cowboy MVP subscription service through www.okstate.com.

Cowboys Edge Past TCU
Dane Mason pitched seven strong innings and Oklahoma State took advantage of six TCU miscues to defeat the Horned Frogs 7-5 and avenge an earlier loss in front of 853 fans at Reynolds Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Mason scattered eight hits and gave up four runs, while striking out seven to improve his record to 2-0. Oklahoma State won its third straight game
and improved to 5-2 with the win, while TCU fell to 4-5 with the loss.

TCU got on the board first in the first inning. Chris Neuman doubled in Shelby Ford to make it 1-0. The Frogs threatened to make it worse in the second after they loaded the bases on errors by first baseman Ty Wright and third baseman Josh Fields. Dane Mason got the next two hitters to pop up to right field to escape the inning. The Cowboys evened the score at one in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Chris Gutierrez.

The Horned Frogs broke the tie in the fifth on an RBI single by Neuman that scored German Duran. The Pokes scored five runs in the bottom half of the inning by taking advantage of TCU's inability to field a bunt. The Horned Frogs committed three errors after Justin Vinyard led off the inning with a perfectly executed bunt single towards the first baseman. Keanon Simon and Wright had RBIs in the inning.

Neuman cut the OSU lead in half with a two-run homerun over the right field fence that knocked Mason out of the game. The Cowboys added an insurance run in the eighth when pinch runner Rusty Ryal scored on a passed ball. The Horned Frogs made it interesting in the ninth. Chad Huffman added an RBI single to score Ramon Moses. Coach Anderson brought in lefty Brett McDonald to face Neuman, who flied out to deep center to end the game.

On Deck
Oklahoma State heads home to take on Dallas Baptist on Tuesday, March 2 at 4 p.m. before heading back on the road to Lake Charles, La. The Cowboys will take part in the Lake Area Classic, hosted by McNeese State. The tournament boasts two teams that made the NCAA tournament a year ago, with all four squads finishing with over 30 wins. The Cowboys will open against McNeese State on Friday, March 5 at 7 p.m., before taking on Southern Miss on Saturday, March 6 at 1 p.m. OSU will then close out the tournament against Indiana State on Sunday, March 7 at 11 a.m.

Baseball America Tidbits
The Cowboys had several mentions in Baseball America's College Preview in January. Oklahoma State is picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament in 2003. Catcher Jason Jaramillo, third baseman Josh Fields and shortstop Chris Gutierrez were listed as All-Big 12 picks. Jaramillo is listed as the third best professional prospect in the Big 12 for the 2004 draft, with Fields in fifth. Both are among the top 30 junior prospects in the nation, with seniors Rod Allen and Travis Ingle also garnering attention in the senior class. Jaramillo is also regarded to have the best arm among the catchers in the conference.

Rew's Rankings
This season, senior hurler Daniel Rew, will share his thoughts through a baseball diary that can be viewed on the baseball home page at . This week, Rew talks about the trip to Fort Worth and the team's performance at the Southwest Diamond Classic.

Big 12 Coaches Poll
The Big 12 coaches recently conducted their preseason coaches poll and 2003 College World Series participant and Big 12 tournament champion Texas was the near unanimous choice to finish first in 2004. Oklahoma State garnered 49 points and is picked to finish fifth. The complete poll is as follows.

Rank/School	First Place Votes	Points	2003 Finish
1. Texas	9	81	T-2nd
2. Baylor	-	67	5th
3. Nebraska	1	64	1st
4. Texas A&M	-	63	T-2nd
5. Oklahoma State	-	49	6th
6. Oklahoma	-	37	7th
7. Texas Tech	-	32	9th
8. Kansas	-	27	8th
9. Missouri	-	21	4th
10. Kansas State	-	9	10th

(Points compiled on a basis of nine for first, eight for second, seven for third, etc.)

Oklahoma State and USA Baseball
USA Baseball ranked Oklahoma State No. 21 in a recent study that ranks the Top 50 Collegiate Baseball Programs that have produced USA Baseball National Team players since 1984. The Cowboys have produced six members on the team during the 20-year span which is the third most among Big 12 schools, behind Texas A&M and Texas. Oklahoma State players selected to play on the national team:

Gary Green	SS	1984
Robin Ventura	3B	1988
Brad Beanblossom	INF	1989
Jeromy Burnitz	OF	1989
Matt Smith	LHP	1999
Ryan Budde	C	2000

Coach Anderson Radio Show
Fans can listen to coach Frank Anderson on his weekly radio show every Monday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on 93.7 KSPI FM. The show will be hosted by Rex Holt and will take place at Freddie Paul's Steakhouse in Stillwater. Coach Anderson will also have a weekly television show that will debut later in the season.

New To Allie P.
Fans may notice some cosmetic changes that have happened since the 2003 season ended. During the offseason, all of the field level brick was painted green and black padding was added to the right and leftfield line brick walls. The infield was also leveled, with grass added to the baselines. A new state of the art scoreboard made its debut against TCU on Tuesday,
with a video board to be added in the future. Next season, the Cowboys will move over to the third base dugout where new lockerrooms will be built with much more room available.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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